Mikki Brock has only been at Kansas University for a few days, yet she’s already developed a taste for the food served at Mrs. E’s — the three-level, 700-seat Ekdahl Dining Commons in Lewis Hall.

“I think they definitely try to provide a good variety. I’ve been pleased. They have pasta, pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches and salads,” said Brock, 19, a Dallas freshman.

Mrs. E’s, the largest residential dining facility at KU, serves about 3,000 meals daily to students who are on meal plans.

“Every day, they have a special, like beef stir-fry or fajitas. You could tell they’re trying to make it a little more cultural. I think all the food is pretty high quality.”

Those are the kind of comments Nona Golledge loves to hear.

Golledge, assistant director of the department of student housing’s dining services, has worked at trying to gauge the ever-changing culinary tastes of KU students for more than 15 years.

“Our motto is ‘the exceptional dining experience for global appetites.’ We want to give exceptional service, and we have global appetites — students from all over the world who eat with us. We need to try to meet as many needs as possible,” she said.

That’s a tall order, considering that her department’s three residential dining facilities, a grab-and-go satellite operation and a convenience store serve a total of about 5,000 meals each day to the roughly 3,900 students who have meal contracts.

“We get a lot of feedback from our customers if we’re not keeping up with trends. Our students are pretty savvy in their dining experiences,” Golledge said.

Marsha Sodamann serves up oriental stir-fry to Kansas University students at Oliver Dining Center, where about 900 meals are served daily. Food service directors at KU work to keep up with the changing tastes and trends among college students. The stir-fry was among Thursday's offerings.

That, in a nutshell, is what Golledge’s job is all about: Figuring out what college students like to eat.

Same goes for Jay Glatz, director of food services for KU Memorial Unions, a retail operation encompassing two food courts, two convenience stores and several snack bars on campus.

“Twenty, 30 years ago, you could have your standard cafeteria and it would work. Nowadays, our customers’ tastes are so sophisticated; you have to stay ahead of the curve, be aware of what’s new and exciting out there,” Glatz said.

Staying innovative

Glatz and Golledge — whose programs operate independently of each other — face the same challenges.

They try to spot trends in their industry as well as stay responsive to the needs of students.

Evidence of just how they’re doing in these tasks can be seen by visiting The Market, the food court in the Kansas Union; and, say, both Mrs. E’s and Oliver Dining Center in Oliver Hall.

“Fifteen years ago, we pretty much had two entrees to choose from at every meal and one vegetarian entree. They could select one entree, and they could only have seconds on side dishes, which would be like rice, potatoes or vegetables, and then they could have one dessert, and self serve beverages,” Golledge said.

Sushi, from eel to California rolls, is offered in the Kansas Union.

How do things work today?

“Now, in Mrs. E’s, we have eight to 10 entrees for lunch and dinner, and two or three of those are vegetarian. There’s a 20-foot salad bar, and we have probably 15 different kinds of cereals, a bread bar, a condiment bar, a dessert bar and it’s all-eat-you-care-to-eat.”

One of the options at the much smaller Oliver Dining Center is the concept of “display cooking,” in which students can select their own ingredients for various rice bowls, wraps, pasta dishes and omelets and watch it be prepared before them.

This is all done within a few minutes, using induction pans that cook meals quickly using magnetic force.

A recent innovation in Golledge’s department is its “Fresh & Healthy” program, set up with help from a dietitian on campus, that uses a small logo to identify entrees that are considered healthier selections.

“When students see the logo, it tells them this is a healthier choice with fewer calories, it’s baked or grilled instead of fried, and (it has) low-sodium content,” Golledge said.

Shannon Craft makes a wrap in one of several stations at The Market on the third floor of the Kansas Union. The food court offers just about any food or beverage item a student could ask for, thanks to a 00,000 renovation two years ago.

“Twenty to 25 percent of those who filled out our surveys said they use this program at least two to three times each week.”

Among those students are Phil Waring, 18, a Belleville, Ill., freshman.

“I’m a diabetic, and they show the amounts of carbohydrates in everything, so it’s a lot easier to take my (insulin) shots,” he said.

Mix of national, in-house concepts

If you can’t find something to eat at The Market in the Kansas Union, you might as well give up.

Because the food court — the result of a $500,000 renovation completed about two years ago — offers just about any food or beverage a college student could desire.

The food court offers a mix of national, branded concepts (Burger King, Pizza Hut, Summit Subs) and signature concepts developed in house, such as: The Carvery, serving homestyle meals; Pepper Sticks, an Asian/Latin concept featuring rice bowls and wraps; and Jitter Mugs, a coffee-bar concept that incorporates Cinnamon Street Bakery (developed by Orion Foods) and Starbucks Coffee.

Customers also can indulge a taste for sushi — everything from eel to California rolls — because Glatz’s operation has contracted out a spot to AFC Corp. for that company’s sushi concept.

The renovation and overhaul of the food court area has paid off.

Marsha Sodamann serves up stir-fry to Kansas University students at Oliver Dining Center in Oliver Hall. Oliver Dining Center offers display

“We felt we had an old-style cafeteria. So we brought in a consultant and architect, and we had done our studies. We decided what brands we were going to bring in,” Glatz said.

“It’s just been phenomenal. We’ve seen increases in sales over the last two years.”

Elsewhere in the Kansas Union, Glatz has worked to bring in local “brands,” partnering with two popular Lawrence establishments.

Milton’s, 920 Mass., is leasing a space where it’s offering coffee and espresso drinks, smoothies and baked goods.

And Westside Deli & Market, 4931 W. Sixth St., operated by Michael Levy, has moved into the space formerly used for the Prairie Cafe, run by Glatz’s department.

The new, full-service restaurant offers the same menu used at Westside Deli & Market.

Justin Smith, 19, a Lawrence sophomore, seemed impressed by all the choices during a recent lunch at the Kansas Union.

“They’ve got Chinese food there, subs, salads, pizza, dessert-type things. You can get sushi somewhere — they have lots of stuff,” he said.